Victim's family 'disgusted' as rapist avoids jail sentence for a second time

An Alabama man who earlier this year was sentenced to only probation for repeatedly raping his teenage neighbor will avoid jail for a second time, after widespread outrage in the community forced a judge to re-sentence him.

Austin Smith Clem, 25, was found guilty in September of raping
his female neighbor three times during her adolescence, the first
known attack coming when the girl was just 14 years old.
Limestone County Circuit Judge James Woodroof sentenced Clem to
30 years in prison last month, but used an Alabama law
technicality to split the sentence for each charge.

Consequently, Clem was sentenced to serve time in a state program
for nonviolent offenders – although he would still be allowed to
live at home and keep his job. After that program's completion,
Clem was ordered to serve three years of probation.

The program Clem was ordered to attend seeks to “re-direct the
lives” of nonviolent, low-level criminals who are deemed
“likely to maintain a productive and law-abiding life as a
result of accountability, guidance and direction to services they
need.”

First-degree rape is a Class A felony and therefore punishable by
20 years to life in prison. Each second-degree rape charge is a
Class B felony, which could cost an offender anywhere from two to
10 years behind bars. Yet, according to local news site AL.com,
Alabama sentences are allowed to be “split” between probation and
community service at a judge’s discretion when differing
punishments are in place.

Media outlets generally avoid identifying rape victims, but
Courtney Andrews was so furious with the decision that she
decided to voice her frustration to WHNT-TV in Alabama.

“Yeah people know who he is, and that he's dangerous, but he
still gets to do what he wants,” she said. “He gets to
work, be with his kids, be with his family, live life. It just
smacks me in the face. It's like you did all of this and put your
story out there for him just to walk, and it hurts.”

Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones was furious with
the announcement, shouting “This isn't legal!” in court
before vowing to do everything he could to correct the error. The
first order of business was to file a motion to re-sentence.

“When a trial court re-sentences a defendant after a portion
of the original sentence is determined to be illegal, the court
must cure the defective portion of the sentence, but may not
change the portions of the initial sentence that are otherwise
valid,” the district attorney argued in the motion.

Yet the second sentence did nothing to comfort the victim or her
family. On Monday, Woodroof sentenced Clem to 15 years for one
count of first-degree rape and 10 years for each of the two
second-degree rape charges he was found guilty of. However, those
sentences will only go into effect if Clem violates the terms of
his probation.

“We are disgusted,” Richard Andrews, the victim's
father, told WHNT-TV. “We are trying to enjoy Christmas as a
family and then this happens, we have no idea what the judge is
thinking. It's ridiculous.”

Jones said he will again file a motion to re-sentence, claiming
the first sentence was indeed legal, and that changing the
penalty for first-degree rape to 15 years is illegal. Jones said
he will seek to convince the judge to sentence Clem under Alabama
law.

Mark McDaniel, a Hunstville attorney, told the local TV station
that the judge will likely not change his mind - no matter how
many more appeals there are.

“Woodroof was in the courtroom and he listened to all of the
facts in this case, what the public has seen is headlines, and
even if his decision is not popular he is the judge,”
McDaniel said.